Kotaku EastEast is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Now, Hideaki Anno of Evangelion is rich and famous. But he wasn’t always that way. He’s paid his dues in full, even when he was barely getting paid at all.

Way back in December 1984, Japanese manga Comic Box Jr. (via Himasoku)published a piece in which Anno went through, month by month, what he had experienced that year.

1984 would prove a turning point for the young Anno. Nausicaä, for which he animated a key scene, was released, and that December he established Gainax.

In this panel comic, Anno described what happened and also listed how much money he made each month. It’s eye-opening if you are unfamiliar with how crap anime pay is. But if you are already aware of that, then this will seem somewhat normal. Sadly.

(Note: The average total monthly salary of a full-time worker in Japan in the mid-1980s was around 317,000 yen. Use that number to compare Anno’s monthly pay.)

July to August

Got a color TV and been going to play pachinko. But, getting that money back is impossible, and seeing the light, I give up. It’s futile...

SALARY: Minus

August (8月)

Back in home the first time in a while (my hometown, though, is Ube in Yamaguchi). Partying, days fly by. But then, when I get back to Tokyo, I’m behind in my schedule and unable to work.

SALARY: Nothing

September (9月)

Now, I’m spending my days having fun. For a friend’s wedding, I head back to Osaka by bike. It should’ve cost only 4,000 yen, but I got nabbed by a motorcycle cop and it ended up being more expensive than going by train. (I got the bike from from Mr. M.)